Women Fire Back at Trump’s Comments

American businessman and Republican Party nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 election, Donald Trump has voiced his opinion over women’s attractiveness, as well as their ability to execute work well.

Trump has insulted co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington, calling her “unattractive both inside and out.” He has also stated that American singer and actress Better Midler is an “extremely unattractive woman.”

Each of these comments were stated by Trump via his Twitter account.

“It is disheartening to see that this is still happening. I really thought we were passed the time where objectifying women was seen as acceptable,” Jasmin Tartt, a member of American Association of University Women, said.

Over a month ago, Trump compared his wife with Ted Cruz’s wife in side-by-side photos on his Twitter account. Along with the photos of both women, he wrote, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Sinead Maguina, vice president of American Association University of Women at University of Central Oklahoma, responded to Trump’s comments regarding women, “If you can only [give value to] a person by their looks, not only are you a narcissistic person – not only you are selfish – but you are just very ignorant. A person’s attractiveness doesn’t last forever. It does not, but your intelligence does. Your intelligence will be with you until the day that you die.”

The Republican Party presidential candidate is no stranger to grading women on looks, according to multiple sources. Because of these comments, Trump’s campaign has brought with it a lot of conversations over sexism and sexual assault.

During an interview with The New York Times, Trump made comments on model Heidi Klum’s appearance, saying, “Sadly, she’s no longer a ’10.'”

“Being graded based on your look, it’s pretty saddening and can be very hurtful. I’m definitely more empowered than I was in the past. And I’ve spent time in the military, so I’ve been around guys talking like this. But being where I am today, I definitely try to make a point in letting them know it makes me uncomfortable. I feel everyone should be able to feel this way and say something,” Tartt said.

During the first presidential debate, American politician and nominee of the Democratic Party,  Hillary Clinton, called out Trump for his history of misogynistic comments. In particular, she brought to light the former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, who he has called “Miss Piggy.”

Trump also insulted Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski in a Twitter attack, calling her “neurotic.”
“I’m not an object. I don’t dress the way I dress to impress boys. My intelligence is worth more than anything, and so those comments kind of depreciate what a woman is. We are not just a pretty thing you can look at. We are working women, we are mothers, we are CEOs. For him to say that, that’s just saying women are just an object, and that’s not OK. I don’t know who taught him morals,” Maguina said.

Tartt explained that a lot of men use this type of behavior: offending women and covering it up by saying it’s all a joke.

“I think a lot of people try to make excuses for this type of behavior because they play it off as a joke — the ‘boys will be boys’ culture that we live in today. It’s not even just about sexual, explicit things. It’s about what is behind it, because sexual assaults happen every day, and it’s mostly on women,” Tartt said.

“Just because you say some offensive comments and then say it’s a joke, it’s really not [a joke], because you thought about it, and you said it. It’s not funny to me, and it’s not funny to anybody else,” Maguina said.

The New York Post emerged with a videotape displaying Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women. In the video recorded a little over a decade ago, Trump said, “You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful women. I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything … Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

Since the leaking of the video, Trump has been accused of harassment and assault by a number of women who came forward to share their stories of alleged misconduct.

“Him commenting that the sexual comments that he made were just locker room talk is basically giving permission to everybody to just mistreat women whether it be physical, or mental or at the work place,” Maguina said about the leaked tape.

When asked how to educate the male population over this touchy topic, Maguina said, “Just say, ‘Hey, you know what, I don’t appreciate that. Can you please not say that again? Because it’s not nice.’ Don’t be afraid to stop them and say, ‘That’s not okay for you to say.’ They don’t have people that tell them that, because some girls just ignore it and go on with their day. I think we just need to be stronger as women,” she added.